Persona: Loud Reflections REV
by Mr. Dusk
Summary: The revised version of Persona: Loud Reflections. After having weird dreams and performing a ritual game, Lincoln Loud finds himself investigating a world inside of mirrors born from the negative thoughts of humanity. Cover art by xXAngeLuciferXx
1. April 3rd (Sun)

_Welcome to_ Persona: Loud Reflections REV _, the revised version of_ Persona: Loud Reflections _. For old readers, thank you for picking up this story again. For new readers, thank you for finding this obscure fic. This story features highly mature concepts that may be too much for some individuals. Please take care and read at your own discretion._

 _Now, relax and enjoy the story._

 _..._

 _In Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, mirrors were fashioned from stone and were used in a number of ways from being luxurious decorations to divination tools. It was believed that mirrors were a portal to a realm that could be seen but not interacted with. Mirrors were often used to reveal a person's destiny through divination, or as a means of communication with otherworld entities._

 _Such beliefs have been all but forgotten in the present day._

 **4/3, Sunday - Evening**

In a cramped linen closet that served as a makeshift bedroom, a young Caucasian man with shaggy snow white hair stared somberly at the phone in his hand. He was wearing only a pair of red briefs as he sat upon his bed with his thumb wavering over the phone screen. On the screen was a private message that read: "Happy 16th Lame-O. Show this to anyone and you're dead." and below it was a rather risque selfie of a beautiful young Latina woman with wavy black hair grinning seductively as she pulled down the collar of the shirt she was wearing to show the camera what was underneath.

He couldn't remember how many times he viewed this picture over the past few months, but this would be the last. With a heavy sigh, the white haired teen tapped the screen and deleted the last birthday gift his ex had given him. _"There, now nobody will see it."_ he thought to himself before tossing the phone onto the nearby dresser. He laid down on his bed with his hands behind his head, and mulled over the school week he had. It had been a rough one filled with annoying gossip, unwanted sympathy, and a lot of attempts from his family to cheer him up. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate it, he just wasn't in the right mind to accept it.

 _"I hope she's happy..."_ he bitterly thought to himself. He felt his eyelids grow heavy, and slowly closed his eyes. The sound of his door opening stopped him from dozing off.

"Hey Lincoln, are you ready for your reading?"

Begrudgingly, Lincoln looked over to see no one else but one of his younger sisters. Pale skin with long raven hair that fell to her lower back in a black nightgown, holding an unopened deck of tarot cards. He rubbed his eyes with one hand as he sat up, "Isn't it kinda late for that Lucy?" he groaned.

Lucy nodded, "They work best late into the night."

A glance at his wall clock told him it was close to midnight. "Can we do this in the morning please?" he asked, "I'm really tired Lucy."

Lucy crossed her arms, "We agreed to try out my new deck tonight. I wanted to do this at three in the morning, but you complained that'd be too late."

Lincoln gave in to her demands and pulled himself up, "Alright Lucy," he got off the bed and towered over his sister with a slight smile, "I do owe you for helping me with that poetry assignment."

A smile almost appeared on her face, but the spooky thirteen year-old kept her blank expression. "Perfect, take a seat then."

"Uh, shouldn't I get dressed for this?"

"That won't be necessary, sit down." she quickly said, maybe just as ready to get this over with as Lincoln was. Scooching down to the foot of his bed, he sat cross-legged with Lucy taking a seat across from him. She opened up the deck box and pulled the cards out. After quickly shuffling them several times, she handed them to Lincoln, "Cut the deck." she ordered, and he obliged.

After shuffling again, she set the deck down between her and him before taking the top card and setting it down. " **The Tower** in the upright position." she stated.

"Meaning?"

"Disaster. There's chaos in your immediate future."

Lincoln shrugged, "What else is new?"

Lucy flipped over the next card, " **The Ten of Cups** is upside down. This means a loss of family or misplacement of values..."

"...right." Lincoln narrowed his eyes, he looked up from the cards to her sister's face, "Lucy, do you really believe this stuff?"

"It would be foolish to completely trust a deck of cards, and it would be equally foolish to disregard them completely." she drew one more card, " **The Page of Swords** is in the upright position. You will soon be challenged, and should embrace it by moving forward."

"Everyday has been a challenge for me." he scoffed.

Lucy gave a heavy sigh, "Lincoln, I'd appreciate it if you would stop mocking my reading."

Lincoln sheepishly smiled and scratched the back of his head, "Sorry Lucy. It's late, it's been a rough week, and I really don't think cards can predict the future."

Another sigh, "Oh well, we should stop here. It seems that your future is destined to just be the same chaos day in and day out." Lucy gathered up her cards, "How disappointing."

Lincoln stood up, "Sorry, well if that's all-urk!" suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in both his temples, his hands shooting up to both sides of his head as it throbed. Like somehow all the blood in his body was being squeezed into his head to the point of popping. He could hear his ears ringing and didn't notice Lucy trying to call out to him. The only thing he heard were the words of a strange but oddly calm voice.

 _"I am thou, thou art I._

 _Thou hast been doomed to an undeserved fate."_

Lincoln backed up into the wall, Lucy got up to his side and tried to keep him from falling over.

" _If my voice is reaching you, there may be a way to overturn this fate._

 _You will be given one year to prepare, in the May of next year, you will meet your fate."_

At this point, Lincoln felt his legs give out. He fell forward and hit the floor.

" _Try as you may, but time is short._

 _And time waits for no one..."_

 **...**

Lincoln's eyes slowly opened and he found himself sitting in a bizarre room. It was a rather large room that looked oddly similar to his family's living room, even with the same type of furnishings. The difference being that everything in the room including the floor, the walls, and the furiture (especially the couch Lincoln himself was sitting on) appeared to be made out of blue velvet. There was also a melancholic yet comforting song Lincoln could hear being played on a piano with an accompaning singer, but both musicians were nowhere to be seen.

What could be seen however, were the very bizarre-looking people who were in front of him. The most notable was the pale, long-nosed old man in a black suit with bulging eyes and an unnerving smile that stretched ear to ear who sat on a blue velvet lounge chair across from Lincoln with his hands clasped together. Standing at either side of the old man were two pale-skinned individuals with yellow eyes. On Lincoln's left was a short young lady with long platinum-blonde hair and a blank expression, she wore a dark blue maid outfit and held a large tome to her chest. To his right was a very tall and thin young man with a bald head and slight smile, he wore a blue butler uniform and held his hands behind his back. Both the long haired lady and the bald headed man had odd yellow irises that stared intensely at Lincoln.

The bizarre old man leaned forward with a hand stretched out, "Welcome to the **Velvet Room**." he greeted in a low, soothing voice.

All the alarms went off in Lincoln's head at once, and panic gripped tight as he found he couldn't move his body. So many questions filled into his mind, most of them having to do with where he was and why he was there but the shock of the situation stunted his voice. Desperately, he managed to squeak out the words: "W-Who are you?"

"My apologies, I seemed to have frighten you." the small man remained seated and gave a small bow, "My name is ****Igor**** , I am delighted to make your acquaintance."

Lincoln observed the room again, gradually feeling less uneasy due to it looking just like the inside of his home aside from all the blue and velvet. The familiarity gave him a modest sense of safety, and the song helped soothe his initial anxiety, "Where am I?" he asked, "Is this a dream?"

"You could say that." answered the long-nosed man, "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter." he looked away from the boy and examined the room for himself, "The Velvet Room tends to change accordingly to accommodate our guests, and here we find ourselves in a family room meant for togetherness." he then looked back at Lincoln with his eerie smile, "It's quite rare for someone so young to be family-oriented."

Lincoln shrugged, "Maybe it's because my family is so big? They take up quite a bit of my life."

Igor nodded, "Indeed, they appear to be very important to you, so much so that your ****other self**** woke up when it sensed the danger from your sister's tarot reading."

Lincoln eyed the old man suspiciously, "My __what__ woke up?"

"In the coming days, your other self will fully awaken. After that, you will return here."

"Wait, what did you mean by my 'other self'?"

"We can discuss the details later." the strange man said, dodging the question with a smile, "A small piece of it awoke when it sensed a terrible catastrophe happening to you in the immediate future. If you don't stand against it, you and your family may meet a terrible fate."

"Hey, I don't like the sound of that!"

"Don't worry, it is my duty to provide assistance to our guests to ensure such a fate does not happen."

Lincoln tried to make sense with the information given, but was unsuccessful, "I still don't understand what's going on."

"That is fine, for now." Igor assured, "Although there is one more thing I should mention..."

"What's that?"

"My services are available only to those who have entered a contract in one way or another. Once you've entered this contract, I'll do everything in my power to help you." Igor then gestured towards the two pale people standing at either side of him, "Ah, I've yet to introduce you to my assistants. To your left is Elly, who will help you keep track of your other selves once they awaken."

The young woman didn't move, she just continued to stare at Lincoln with her expressionless face and unblinking eyes. "I'm Elly. Nice to meet you." she greeted flatly.

"Uh...hi." Lincoln found her creepy, as if he had just found a shorter, white-haired version of Lucy.

"To your right is Eli, a craftsman that can give form to your sleeping power."

The tall man turned his head towards Igor, "Master, if I may?"

Igor nodded, "Yes, go ahead Eli."

The tall man stepped forward and bowed before Lincoln, "Greetings Master Lincoln. I am Eli, and I shall ****craft weapons**** for you that will strike down both the wicked and the holy." he spoke with a soft, polite voice.

"Weapons?" Lincoln asked.

"Master Lincoln, I wish to craft a weapon for you. To do so, I need to reach into the sea of your soul, and pull out the power that sleeps within. Will you allow me?"

Lincoln was a bit put off by the politeness and shrugged, "Uh, sure?"

The tall man raised his right arm up, "Thank you, please hold still." he then suddenly shoved his arm towards Lincoln's forehead. Then his hand went __into__ Lincoln's forehead.

"Wait a minute! What! What! What!" Lincoln began to shout.

"Please do calm down Master Lincoln!" Eli told his as he moved his arm further into Lincoln's forehead, "This is a very delicate procedure!"

"It feels weird!" Lincoln screeched. As the otherworldly being poked around inside Lincoln's noggin, he tried to pinpoint exactly what this new sensation was. The best comparison Lincoln could make would be if he put an ice pack on his head and the ice somehow forced its way inside and began a rampage upon his psyche. The worst of this was however that Lincoln was _still_ paralyzed as this was happening.

"Calm down! Relax! It's almost over!" Eli started to pull out his arm and finally exited, "Found it!" he announced. Lincoln looked at what this bizarre butler had pulled out and saw some sort of glowing, moving orb. Glowing an orange hue, and moving as if it was alive.

"What...what is that? Why was it inside my head?" Lincoln asked.

"This here, Master Lincoln, is a rare material that I like to call ****Forma****. It is, in essence, the inner strength from whichever being that produces it. In another way, this is you, Master Lincoln." Eli handled the Forma, which began to change shape with his touch, "Forma may come from any particular being be it human or otherwise, but obtaining it is quite difficult to do. Every Forma is unique, and there are certain forms that suit them best. While some may be similar, I've yet to come across two that are exactly the same. Now, let's see what shape your Forma wishes to be..."

Eli stopped and held up the Forma again. Lincoln watched as it lit up the room with a bright flash. When the flash subsided, he saw that the glowing Forma was gone and in its place was a longsword. The blue butler held the sword in his hands and inspected it closely.

"Ah, the classic sword. The weapon of choice for those who seek to lead and inspire. A favorite among heroes." he held it out for Lincoln.

Lincoln hesitated to touch the blade. He had never held a weapon before now, let alone a sword that just came out of his head. His nervousness was noticed.

"Go on Master Lincoln, this is my gift to you. May it serve you well."

Hearing that only pressured him more. Lincoln took a deep breath and grabbed onto the longsword's grip and tried to pick it up with one hand. He didn't take in account on how heavy it would be, and the blade fell forward with the edge slicing through Eli's outfit and flesh underneath, making a visible cut along his torso. On reflex, Lincoln grabbed the grip with both hands before it hit the ground, "Oh shit! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" he cried out upon seeing the mark he made.

Eli stood still for a moment, "Nothing you need to worry about, Master Lincoln." then the mark Lincoln had made vanished, and the fabric that made up the butler outfit started to re-stitch itself until the damage was completely gone.

Lincoln's mouth couldn't be more open, he somehow manage to utter the question: "How did you do that?"

"Again, nothing you need to worry about, Master Lincoln. I advise you to refrain from trying to harm me in the future. It will not end well for you." Eli regained his composure and he took his place back to the left side of Igor.

Suddenly, the sword vanished from Lincoln's hands. He looked at his hands in shock, "Huh? Where did it go?"

"Do not worry Master Lincoln." started the butler, "As I've told you, that sword is a part of you and it will always be at your side. Should you ever need it, you'll have it."

Lincoln was just getting more and more confused.

"I believe that is all we have to offer for now." Igor announced, "Until the next time we meet, farewell."

Lincoln felt lightheaded, and his vision began to fade again.


	2. April 4th (Mon)

**4/4, Monday - Daytime**

Lincoln awoke to the sound of someone pounding on his door. He groaned, there was already a faint pounding in his head and the noise was making it worse. The pounding continued, and he threw the covers off as he got out of bed and grabbed the doorknob, "What is it?" he grunted as he pulled the door open.

In front of his door was one of Lincoln's older sisters who, despite that fact, was nearly a foot shorter than him. She looked up at him with a smirk that fit right into her tomboyish appearance with her brown ponytail and red unzipped tracksuit which revealed a white tee that constricted her large breasts. "Heh, I knew that would get you up."

Lincoln rubbed his eyes, "Lynn? What gives?" he asked.

Lynn kept her smirk as she leaned back and folded her arms behind her head, "Well, you've slept enough already, and Clyde was starting to get worried about you."

That woke him up, "Clyde? He's here already? But it's-" Lincoln grabbed his phone from the dresser and checked the clock. "...it's past noon?"

Lynn nodded and snickered, "Yeah, and you were snoring all morning, it was like a bear moved into your room."

Lincoln rolled his eyes with a sigh before walking past Lynn, "Right, well, thanks I guess. I better go see him."

"Aren't you forgetting something, briefs boy?" Lynn hardly fought to contain her laughter.

Lincoln stopped and looked down. He turned back for his room, "Yes, yes I am."

Lincoln shut the door behind him and Lynn laughed as she headed towards her own room. When his door opened again, Lincoln walked out in his usual attire of an orange polo with jeans and a brown half-zipped jacket. He headed for the stairs and mumbled to himself.

" _Damn it, I wasted half the day sleeping! Clyde and his dads are leaving for their cruise tomorrow! Stupid, stupid, stupid! What was I even dreaming about?"_ The events of the previous night were still fresh in his mind: Lucy's tarot reading, the strange voice in his head, and the odd dream with the weird room. _"What the hell even was that?"_ Lincoln shook his head, _"I must be going crazy..."_

Lincoln reached the bottom of the stairs and turned to the living room to see his best friend and youngest sister sitting together on the couch playing a fighting videogame.

" **PLAYER – LILY – WINS!"** announced the TV.

"Beat ya again Clyde!" Lily cheered, the little blonde sitting cute in her lilac dress and stockings with a black tee shirt.

The bespectacled black teen smiled, "Heh, you're good Lily! I should practice more to be a better match for you."

Lily blushed, "You're already a great match..." she whispered to herself.

"Huh?"

Lincoln then walked in, "You two having fun without me?"

"Hi Linky!" greeted Lily.

"Hey buddy!" Clyde got off the couch and the two best buds performed their signature handshake. The two nearly matched in height with Lincoln only slightly taller, though Clyde would've beaten him if they counted his large afro. His blue sweater vest and yellow polo combo went well with his black slacks. The two sat down on the couch with Lily scooting to the end, offering her controller.

Lincoln took hold of the controller, "Sorry for sleeping in Clyde, I hope you didn't have to wait long."

"No problem, Lily's been keeping me company." Clyde said as Lily rested her head on his shoulder as the two boys started a new round, "Besides, you've been through a lot lately."

Lincoln shrugged, "Still, I shouldn't keep you waiting when we planned to hang out."

"It was my fault." Lincoln, Clyde, and Lily jumped when they finally noticed Lucy sitting on the chair next to the couch in her black dress and striped knee socks/sleeves combo, looking up from writing in her poem book.

"Um, what did you do Lucy?" Clyde asked after catching his breath.

Lucy looked down, "I...I kept him up late last night." she admitted.

Lincoln sighed, "Lucy, it wasn't that late! Besides, I blame that weird dream I had."

"Weird dream?" the other three asked.

Lincoln recounted his dream as best he could, telling Clyde, Lucy, and Lily about the weird room and the bizarre people there. "So what do you guys think? Am I just going crazy, or what?"

"Hmm..." Clyde tapped his chin in thought, "Dr. Lopez once told me that dreams can be a way to process emotions and come up with solutions to problems. You could just be worrying too much and your dream is telling you not to."

"Those people in it did seem to want to help you. They even gave you a sword." Lucy noted.

"That guy with the long nose though!" Lily giggled, "He just sounded silly!"

Lincoln shrugged, "He still creeped me out, I'm still not sure what he meant by my 'other self' either."

"Maybe there's another you out there?" Lily asked.

Clyde shook his head, "I doubt that, I think his dream meant another part of Lincoln."

"Have any of you heard of the **Persona Game**?" Lucy suddenly asked.

The other three looked over at her. "...Persona Game?" Lincoln asked.

Lucy put down her book and pen, "It's a ritual game, like Bloody Mary." she explained

"Bloody Mary!" Lily's eyes went wide as she got up, "Nuh uh, no way! That game was way too scary!" she quickly left the room and went up the stairs.

"What's a Persona?" Lincoln asked when Lily was out of earshot.

"Oh, I know this!" Clyde's face lit up, "'Persona' is a Latin word meaning 'mask' but it's also used in psychology to describe a part of a person's personality that they show to others."

Lincoln put the pieces together, "So... a Persona is another 'self'?"

"Ugh, what's with all the nerd talk?"

The three of them turned to see Lynn coming down the stairs, carrying a beat up gym bag over her left arm.

"We're trying to help Lincoln figure out his dream." Clyde explained.

"I think he should try the Persona Game." Lucy added.

"About that, how does that ritual go?" Lincoln asked.

"You start by looking into a mirror at midnight with the lights off. Then, you call out 'Persona' and your reflection will move by itself, giving you a look into the future."

The others were silent for a moment, then Lynn started to laugh, "That's gotta be one of the dumbest things I've heard!"

"Have you tried it?" Clyde asked.

Lucy nodded, "I saw it move."

Lynn shook her head and turned for the door, "Whatever, I'm going out."

Clyde turned towards her, "Hey Lynn, how's your hand?"

Lynn looked over with a smirk, she shook her right hand in a fist, "Good as new! More than ready for tryouts!"

Clyde smiled, "That's great, good luck!"

She shook her gym bag, "I got all the luck I need right here!" with that, she left the house.

"So Lincoln, are you going to play the Persona Game?" Lucy asked.

Lincoln shook his head, "I dunno, I'll think about it."

Lucy nodded and went back to her book.

Lincoln felt Clyde playfully bumping him with his shoulder, "C'mon man, let's play a few rounds."

Lincoln grinned, "Didn't Lily kick your butt enough already?"

"I was going easy on her."

"Sure you were..."

 **4/4 Monday – Evening**

Lincoln and Clyde spent the afternoon playing games until Clyde left for home when it got late. Lincoln still had some time before he could play the Persona Game, he returned to his bedroom and decided to pass the time by reading comics.

The boy kicked off his shoes and threw off his shirt and jacket. He pulled down his jeans and plopped onto his bed in his red briefs after grabbing a few comics from his dresser drawer to last him until midnight.

...

Soon enough, it was time to head for the bathroom and Lincoln stood up. _"Should I put on something?"_ he asked himself, _"Eh, nah, this will only take a few minutes."_

Lincoln left his bedroom, the hallway being empty as five of his sisters were in their bedrooms. Lincoln quietly crept down the hall, but stopped when he reached the bathroom. Part of his dream from the previous night played in his head.

" _Your other self woke up when it sensed the danger from your sister's tarot reading..._

 _...In the coming days, your other self will fully awaken."_

The bizarre old man's words echoed in Lincoln's mind, he shook his head, _"This is all just junk in my head … probably because of what happened with Ronnie Anne … well, let's just get this over with."_ Lincoln opened the bathroom door and stepped in, shutting the door behind him.

The time was now midnight.

Inside the dark lavatory, Lincoln shut his eyes for a few seconds to help his eyesight adjust to the lack of light. He opened them again, and approached the sink, eyeing his reflection in the mirror. The boy briefly wondered if performing this ritual would really do him any good, and decided he should at least try. Lincoln made eye contact with his reflection and said the word:

"Persona!"

Nothing happened. Lincoln's reflection stood in place as it stared back at him. Lincoln shrugged, _"_ _Nothing, well, I kinda expect-_ "

"Argh!" Lincoln felt the same pain he felt the previous night in both his temples. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he started to hear the strange, calm voice again.

" _I am thou, thou art I..."_

"No! Get out of my head!" The pain was too much to bear, Lincoln stretched his right arm towards the mirror to reach the medicine cabinet behind it. He didn't feel the mirror, what he felt instead was a sensation he could only describe as putting his hand into cold, dense water. He opened his eyes to see that his hand went into the mirror.

His hand was now in the mirror. Ripples formed around his arm as it dipped into the reflective surface and distorted the reflection of Lincoln and the bathroom behind him. Lincoln couldn't believe his eyes, his mouth was agape, and a single word whispered its way out of his mouth.

"...what?"

Just then, Lincoln felt something _biting_ his hand. It started to pull him into the mirror.

"Ah! No! It's got me!" he screamed as he jerked backwards. The pulling from both sides was so strong that Lincoln lost his balance after freeing his hand from the mirror, and fell backwards into the bathtub behind him.

 _THUD!_

The back of Lincoln's head hit the wall and both hands quickly went up to help soothe the pain as he let out a small grown. Soon after making all that noise, the door to the bathroom was kicked open. The lights quickly turned on, and Lincoln saw four of his sisters in their sleep attire poking their heads through the door.

"What's going on in here?" asked Lynn who was most likely the one who kicked the door open.

Lana, one of the twins, pointed at him, "Why are your clothes off?" she asked.

"Blech! Were you doing gross boy stuff again?" accused Lola, the other twin.

Lincoln pulled himself up, "You guys won't believe this, my hand just went into the mirror!"

There was a pause, then laughter erupted among his sisters. Lynn went over and playfully punched his arm. "Lincoln, relax! I know guys who do this junk all the time!"

"I'm not making this up! My hand really went into the mirror, and something bit it! Look!" Lincoln held up his hand.

"Linc, there's nothing wrong with your hand!" Lana told him.

"But..." Lincoln drew his hand back, and saw that it was unharmed, "...huh?"

There was a yawn behind the others, Lincoln saw Lily approach from the dark, "What's going on?"

Lana took her by the hand and led her back down the hall, "C'mon Lil', let's get some shuteye."

"Guys, wait!" Lincoln protested as he pointed at the mirror, "I can just-"

Lola pushed two gloved fingers onto his lips, "Lincoln, you've disturbed my beauty sleep enough for the night. If you keep pushing this, I'll tell mom about those weird Japanese comics you hide under your mattress." she threatened before leaving for her bedroom.

Lincoln kept his mouth shut, his face started to flush red with embarrassment. Lynn patted him on the shoulder, "Goodnight little bro, don't stay up too late." she then walked out, shutting the door behind her.

The boy lowered himself back into the bathtub and slapped his face with the palm of his left hand. "What was I thinking?" he asked aloud, "Even _I_ can't believe what just happened! What chance was there that my sisters would?"

"You forgot me."

Lincoln jumped and looked up to see that Lucy was still present. "Lucy? You believe me?"

She just stood there, expressionless, "Did you play the Persona Game?"

Lincoln rubbed the back of his head, still a bit sore, "Uh...yeah, but I didn't see my reflection moving. Not until my hand went in."

"I see..." Lucy looked over at the mirror, "Can you do it again?"

"Maybe..." Lincoln got out of the tub and walked back to the mirror, "...I dunno though, there's _something_ in there, what if it bites me again?"

He felt pressure around his waist and against his back, he looked over to see his little sister wrapping her arms around him. "Here, I'll be your anchor."

Lincoln smiled at her, "Thanks Lucy." he took a deep breath as he reached towards the mirror, "Okay, here I go!"

His hand went right in, just like last time. Lucy gasped, "That's incredible..."

"I know, right?" Lincoln's arm went a bit further in, causing more ripples to appear.

Lucy tugged on him a bit, "How are you doing this?

"I have no idea! I mean, there was this voice and- ow!" Lincoln felt his hand being bitten again, and again he was being pulled into the mirror. He tried pulling against it, but whatever was in the mirror was pulling back stronger now, "Lucy! Let go!"

"No!" she tightened her grip around him and refused to let go.

"Lucy!"

The pull was getting stronger somehow, and Lincoln felt himself being lifted off the floor. The both of them were pulled into the mirror by the unknown force, and the mirror's surface went back to normal.

…

Lincoln and Lucy hit the ground with Lincoln taking most of the fall as he shielded Lucy. The boy had landed on his side, and rolled onto his back with a low groan. "Lucy, are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm okay. What about you?"

The boy looked down at his right side where he landed, and that's when he saw it. His hand was still being bitten, and it was in the jaws of what looked like a floating skull with red eyeballs looking right at Lincoln. It was wearing a headdress made of feathers.

Lucy looked down to see the skull as well, she let out a gasp.

The skull opened its jaws a bit, **"** **Finally, a human!** " yelled the skull.

Lincoln let out a yell as he shook his arm, "Get it off! Get it off!"

The force from Lincoln's arm flailing about caused it to fly off his hand and crash into the bathroom mirror.

Lincoln and Lucy got up from the floor, the skull dislodged itself from the mirror to show that it was now destroyed.

"...oh no." Lincoln gasped out, cold sweat started forming on the back of his neck as he saw the skull floating up to meet his eye level.

" **Foolish human! What was that for?"**

Before Lincoln could answer, he felt himself being pulled out of the bathroom.

" **Hey! Get back here!"**

Lincoln and Lucy slammed the door on the apparition, then pushed themselves against the door.

"What the hell was that?" Lincoln asked.

"No idea." Lucy answered.

 _Thump! Thump!_

A small amount of force rammed against the door. Lincoln eyed the end table next to him, and quickly pulled it in front of the door while Lucy got out of the way.

"Think that'll hold?" Lucy asked.

"It better..." Lincoln turned around to take a look down the hallway. He saw that they were in what seemed to be the upstairs hallway of their house, but it was in worse shape than usual. Cracks and mold decorated the walls, there were holes in the floor, a few of the doors were boarded up, and the entrance to the attic was opened, with some sort of black liquid dripping from the opening.

"...is this the inside of the mirror?" Lincoln asked aloud.

"Lincoln..." Lucy pointed down the hall. Lincoln followed her finger to see a mass of shadow with a bizarre blue mask on it, crawling towards them on the floor. "...what is that?"

The mass of shadow turned to face the two, the face on the mask slowly changed its blank expression into a devious grin. And then, it charged right at Lincoln. It crossed the hallway at high speed, getting closer and closer in seconds.

"Lincoln!"

Before it could strike however, Lincoln swung his arms towards it in a sweeping motion as if on instinct, and a longsword appeared in his hands. The blade made contact with the mask of the shadow creature, and sliced it in half. With the mask gone, the mass of shadow faded away.

The two teens were shocked with what just happened. The two looked at the sword in Lincoln's hands. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished.

" _Should you ever need it, you'll have it."_

The bald butler's words echoed in Lincoln's head. The boy stared at his hands, _"No way, seriously? That was real?"_ he started shaking, then felt someone at his right side. Lucy grabbed onto his arm.

"How did you do that?" Lucy asked, she started to yank on his arm, "Do it again! How does it work?"

"Lucy, stop!" Lincoln yelled, getting free of his sister's grasp, "I don't know how that happened!"

Lucy backed away from him, shaking a little.

Lincoln sighed, "I'm sorry, this is all new to me and-"

Lucy looked away from him, "It's okay. I got too excited..." she trailed off, then her mouth went agape.

"Lucy?" Lincoln asked as he followed her gaze. She was looking at a light at the end of the hallway, where Lincoln's bedroom would be. In the bedroom door was another Lincoln.

"What is..." Lucy asked in a hushed, terrified voice.

The other Lincoln then shut the door to the room. Lucy quickly raced down the hall.

"Lucy, wait!" Lincoln went after her, following her into the bedroom. Lucy stood in the center, the other Lincoln nowhere to be seen. Lucy was looking up at the walls, and Lincoln couldn't blame her. There was a bunch of words written on the walls.

PATHETIC

LOSER

IDIOT

JERK

WORTHLESS

WEAK

NOT GOOD ENOUGH

USELESS

PERVERT

BAD BROTHER

The words were repeated over and over, some were even written on top of one another.

"What...what is all this?" Lincoln asked.

"What is this?" repeated a distorted, slowly echoing voice.

The door slammed shut behind them. Lincoln and Lucy turned to find Lincoln's lookalike. He loomed over the two with a dark aura radiating off of him, and his eyes...his eyes had an unnatural look of dullness to them. An emptiness that was accentuated by the yellow irises he had.

His gaze was piercing right through Lincoln and Lucy. "This is my room... your room."

Lincoln was taken aback, "What? Who the heck are you? "

The other Lincoln took a step forward, arms stretched out, "Don't you recognize me? I'm you."

"Lincoln?" Lucy asked, unsure what to make of the situation.

"Stay behind me." he told her, then he focused on the double, "What do you mean that you're me?"

Lincoln was unnerved when his copy gave him a smile, "I'm the real you. The true self that you keep deep down inside, the self that you don't like to admit that's there. The self that you are ashamed of, the self that you hate."

"The other self... " Lucy whispered.

Lincoln paused a moment, "... what's with all the writing? Why did you write all this junk on the walls?"

The double frowned as he looked over the words, "These are all from the people who've hurt you the most."

Lucy looked over the words again, "...hurt you the most? You mean Ronnie Anne?"

Lincoln went quiet with the mention of her name.

The other Lincoln shook his head, "Ronnie Anne? She hurt him bad, sure. But not as much as well...the ten girls he cares about the most."

Lincoln looked down at his feet, "The ten...my sisters."

"Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lisa, even Lily...you've disappointed them all in one way or another. When Ronnie Anne ditched you, these words came back like they _always_ do."

"Always?" Lucy took a step forward to be at Lincoln's side.

"They came back when she told you that you weren't good enough, and you wondered what she meant. Was it the plate of spaghetti that fell on her lap after the movie? Was it the less expensive Valentine's card you picked out for her? Did you ruin the mood when you had trouble unbuttoning her pants when you two were finally alone?" suddenly, the other Lincoln grinned again, "Were you just _that_ bad at sex?"

Upon hearing that, Lucy gasped. Lincoln tried to look away, embarrassed.

"Face it, you weren't good enough for Ronnie Anne. That's why she broke it off after that night with her when you lost your V-card, you'll never be good enough for her, or for anyone for that matter."

Lincoln had his palms covering most of his face. Hiding from the shame, "It's true..." he calmly admitted, "...everything he's saying is true."

Lucy tugged on her brother's arm, "Lincoln, you can't really be thinking that!" she told him.

"He is, trust me. I'm thinking it too." admitted the double.

Lucy stopped, she let go of him and looked down at her feet, "Lincoln...I had no idea you were holding onto so much. I'm sorry we made you feel this way, I-"

Lincoln lowered his hands and patted Lucy on the shoulder, "Lucy, I've already forgiven you all. It's just hard for me to forget..." Lincoln looked over to his other self, "...I don't want to resent my sisters. Even when they push me around or make fun of me, they're still the most important people I have in my life. I wouldn't trade them for the world."

With this acceptance, his other self nodded, the dark aura around it died down. Then it vanished and in its place was a bright, glowing card that levitated towards Lincoln who caught it. Lucy looked over his shoulder to see his new prize. On the card was the image of a bipedal anthropomorphic rabbit carrying a bindle. Above the image was the number 0, and beneath the image was the name "Br'er Rabbit".

"...a tarot card?" Lucy asked.

Lincoln once again heard the strange calm voice, but this time he didn't feel any pain or disturbance.

" _I am thou, thou art it..._

 _I am the other you, your other self._

 _Nice to meet ya, kid! I am Br'er Rabbit!_

 _The wittiest, bravest, and most cunning hare you'll ever meet!"_

As the voice went away, so did the card. Lincoln stared at his hand, a bit dumbfounded, he then looked up to see the vanity mirror above the dresser, just like in the real world. He walked over and placed his hand on the mirror's surface. His hand went through.

"Looks like this is our way out." Lincoln offered his other hand to Lucy, "Hold onto me, okay?"

Lucy nodded as she grasped his hand, and the two went through the mirror.

…

Lincoln dropped down from his mirror into his room, then helped Lucy down after him. Lincoln let go of her, put his hands on his knees, and took a deep breath, "We're back...thank goodness."

Lincoln looked back up to see Lucy who was looking down again.

"...you okay Lucy? That whole thing got me exhausted..."

"The Fool." she finally said.

"Huh?" Lincoln asked as he stood back up.

Lucy looked up at him, "Your card. It was 0, The Fool."

"...sorry?"

"That card that appeared, it was a tarot card, it was The Fool."

Lincoln scratched the back of his head, "...I still have no idea what you mean."

Lucy sighed, "The Fool is part of the Major Acrana, it means-"

Lincoln put a hand on her head, "Lucy, I think we've been through enough crazy for one night...I'm sorry but can't we talk about this tomorrow? I feel like I'll pass out any second now."

Lucy was quiet for a bit, then nodded, "Okay..."

"Alright, I'm gonna lay down then. Goodnight Lucy."

She nodded, and left his room for her own at the end of the hall.

Lincoln plopped down onto his bed, his energy having been nearly fully drained from the experience.

" _...that wasn't a dream...just what the hell is going on?"_

…

Back on the other side of the mirror, the bathroom door burst open and a skull floated into the hallway.

 **"Ha! You couldn't keep me in there forever!"** it boasted to nobody. Seeing that the hallway was empty, the skull slowly looked downwards, **"Damn humans! Now how am I going to get the rest of my body?"**


End file.
